Eisenburg in U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,090 issued 10/16/79 teaches an adjustable track formed of two resiliently flexible carriers or track members guided in vertically adjustable bearings in spaced juxtaposition so that a ball may be supported therebetween. The bearings are clamped to vertical rods held in holes in a baseboard. A rolling toy or ball rolls down the track when placed at the highest end. The structure is expensive and assembly requires skills beyond many children.
Bender et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,749 issued 11/19/85 discloses a plurality of toy elongate blocks having an inclined groove along an upper surface. The blocks may be arranged in various vertical and horizontal orientations to form an extended pathway for a rolling ball or marble. The blocks are used in a game with an object to form the longest path for rolling the ball. All of the grooves are straight and the ball must drop from one level to a lower level to reach the groove in the next block. The blocks are piled upon one another to adjust height so the path cannot cross itself.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,000,808 issued 5/7/35 to Williams discloses straight and curved track segments joinable together, with tripod support stands having a notched upper surface for receiving a segment. The segments join together to form a track with a level path and the support stands have varying heights so that the entire path may be tilted at an angle to enable a ball to roll down the track from highest to lowest point. Due to the structure, the slope of the entire track will be uniform and there is no opportunity for the user to vary the slope and thereby the speed of descent of a ball on a portion of the track.
Despite the abundance of rolling ball toys a need has arisen for a rolling ball toy that is sturdy, inexpensive to produce, and easy to assemble by children. Furthermore, the toy should be adaptable to assembly with a great variety of configurations, with a path that can cross over and under itself, provide a slow speed of rolling with ability to vary the slope in different sections.